Stuart Andrew to become latest UK gambling minister

Andrew will be the sixth minister to hold the gambling brief since 2020.

UK.- Stuart Andrew MP is expected to be confirmed as the latest minister to take the gambling brief at the UK government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). He’ll be the sixth minister to hold the position since the government began a protracted review of gambling legislation back in 2020.

Andrew takes the position after Paul Scully moved to the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in a restructuring that saw Lucy Frazer put in charge of a slimmed-down DCMS. Conservative MP for Pudsey, Horsforth and Aireborough in West Yorkshire since 2010, Andrew’s first junior ministerial position was as parliamentary under-secretary of state for Wales under the then prime Minister Theresa May.

He later worked as under-secretary for defence procurement before serving as vice-chamberlain of the household, reporting on House of Commons matters to the late Queen Elizabeth II, minister of state for housing, treasurer of the household and minister of state for prisons and probation, all under Boris Johnson.

Andrew finally joined the DCMS in September as parliamentary under-secretary of state for sport, tourism, heritage and civil society.

Impact on the UK gambling white paper

Andrew hasn’t expressed much of an interest in the gambling sector in the past, but he will now be expected to deliver the government’s gambling white paper.

Before Scully, responsibility for the review of the 2005 Gambling Act passed through Nigel Huddleston, John Whittingdale, Chris Philp and Damian Collins. Meanwhile, overall leadership of the DCMS has passed through four pairs of hands: Oliver Dowden, Nadine Dorries, Michelle Donelan and now Frazer.

Most recently, Scully said in early December that it would be published “in a few weeks”, but Andrew will now need to move fast if it’s to be published before Easter.

It’s expected that the paper will propose affordability checks and stake limits for online slots. A statutory levy on operators to problem gambling research and treatment is believed to be off the cards, as are gambling sponsorship restrictions, with the government inclined to allow the Premier League to take voluntary action.